Charter Schools

After reading the recent letter from Hamilton Elementary Middle School parents, it is clear there are severe misperceptions floating around about Baltimore City public charter schools ( "MarylandCAN isn't interested in kids but in pushing an anti-public school agenda," June 5). Charter schools are public schools like Hamilton, they get their funding from the Baltimore City Public Schools system and their teachers are Baltimore City public school teachers. Moreover, the type of kids served by charters are the same as those served by traditional public schools.

"[O]ne man appears to be a more eligible dispenser of the mercy of government, than a body of men. " - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 74 Every politician wants a legacy - an issue or institution that evolves far beyond the official's time in public office. Sometimes, unexpected events intervene and the intended legacy items do not go according to plan. My experience is a good example of such an unplanned legacy. Some of you will recall our administration's steadfast support for charter schools - public schools that enjoy a greater degree of autonomy than the standard public school.

Erica Green 's article, "City school board gives approval to two new charter schools," (June 14) would, at first glance, appear to report good news. Under careful scrutiny, two good proposals for ways to educate our kids were granted charters. How can you not be supportive of that? But wait! Near the end of the article she notes, that city schools CEO Andrés Alonso "recently acknowledged that the large number of charter schools [35] has become of financial burden for the district.

Michael Middleton calls poverty Baltimore's biggest enemy. The $1.1 billion plan to overhaul the city's schools is fine, he told Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and new superintendent Gregory Thornton, but the economic issues facing families need to be addressed first. The city's problems "won't be fixed by brick and mortar," the Cherry Hill Community Coalition representative said. "That's where I disagree with you," the mayor replied, adding that even the city's poorest areas produce good students, who desperately need a place to succeed.

Once again, Dan Rodricks has voiced his hang-up with the Catholic Church with a cheap and inaccurate shot accusing the Archdiocese of Baltimore of "looking petty when it refuses to sell its vacant school buildings to city charter schools" ("Street food and soccer, war and Westboro," March 24). Note he wrote buildings, plural, not the single school building in the news recently. In fact, the Archdiocese announced on March 24 the sale of St. Rose of Lima Catholic School and convent in Brooklyn to The Children's Guild, an operator of two city charter schools.

Ricarda Easton and Will McKenna have done an excellent job of summarizing the many issues that need to be addressed by the Baltimore's new CEO of schools regarding charter schools ( "Holding back the city's charter schools," May 7). Incoming Superintendent Gregory Thornton would be well advised also to examine a new report from the University of Arkansas that compares funding of charter schools to traditional schools (" which discusses the disparity between funding in almost every state.

The people of Baltimore care about inequity. We think about what is fair and right, and together, we have come up with some great solutions to some of the disparities we see in our city. The Baltimore Education Coalition, the ACLU, Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, and the city's school system recently brought to light the injustice of students being taught in school system buildings that are clearly inadequate. Some facilities had no heat in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer.

The Baltimore City school system stands out in Maryland for its willingness to try new approaches to education. With 33 public charter schools, 14 transformation campuses and several other contractor-operated schools, the system leads the state in embracing innovation. The city school system has recently reviewed and made recommendations for 25 charter and contract schools, a process that clearly demonstrated that innovation can create better outcomes for children. But innovative models must also demonstrate that they are getting results.

My service on the Maryland State Board of Education overlapped with Jim Campbell's service on the City School Board. I am writing to correct some important facts, but, first of all, I agree that CEO Andrés Alonso's forcefulness and sense of mission have been very positive for the city schools, and the schools are headed in the right direction, albeit far too slowly. In "City school system ready to take the next step" (Commentary, July 22), Jim Campbell points out the successful opening of charter schools in the city, but prior to Mr. Alonso's arrival, the city school board, including Mr. Campbell, right after the state charter law was passed in 2003, strenuously fought new charter school applications and, most importantly, their full funding as required by state law. They did so to the point of opposing the full funding in court all the way to Maryland's top court.

Ten years ago, Baltimore students were able for the first time to enroll in public charter schools, which brought a fresh approach to education in the city. Publicly funded and part of the Baltimore City Public Schools, charter schools are run by independent operators who develop an academic approach and governance model to engage families in public education in new ways. These schools are held accountable for driving student achievement and for being well managed. Today, Baltimore is fortunate to have 31 charters across the city, many of which are integral parts of the education landscape.

After reading the recent letter from Hamilton Elementary Middle School parents, it is clear there are severe misperceptions floating around about Baltimore City public charter schools ( "MarylandCAN isn't interested in kids but in pushing an anti-public school agenda," June 5). Charter schools are public schools like Hamilton, they get their funding from the Baltimore City Public Schools system and their teachers are Baltimore City public school teachers. Moreover, the type of kids served by charters are the same as those served by traditional public schools.

I definitely agree with the principals who wrote to suggest holding forums for charter versus traditional school funding ( "Baltimore principals call for funding forums," May 22). Students, parents and the general public should know how their tax money is being spent. They should be aware of what it is being spent on and how resources are being divided among schools. The school board should be open to hearing the opinions and ideas from principals, students and parents because both charter and traditional schools serve Baltimore's children.

As a parent of Baltimore City Public School students, I take great offense to the commentary, "City principals call for funding forums" (May 22), written by five BCPS principals. I find it offensive that, while they do highlight the numerous and substantial costs charters must pay from their budgets that traditional schools do not, they ignore a more important element which is that parents and students deserve choice - choice in curriculum, school facilities and program models. My older daughter graduated from Baltimore City College in the International Baccalaureate program.

As recently named "transformational" principals at great traditional and charter schools, we call for public forums hosted by a credible, independent organization to discuss the equitable funding of schools in Baltimore. We believe charter school students receive more funding than traditional school students and that public forums will shed light on what is fair and help move the conversation from equity to adequacy of funding for all students. There is widespread belief among teachers and principals that traditional public schools are subsidizing charters.

In "Holding back the city's charter schools" (May 7) Ricarda Easton and Will McKenna present their case for the importance of charter schools to education in Baltimore City. We are three educators with extensive experience in Baltimore, including in charter schools, and we argue that while they may be right, it is not in the way they seem to think. At the center of Ms. Easton and Mr. McKenna's argument are two linked claims: that charters have brought a fresh approach to education in the city and that they are being held back from doing even more good by the combination of flat funding, centralized control and a lack of willingness on the part of city schools' central office to adequately distinguish between charters and traditional public schools.

Education reform measures from the Common Core standards to teacher evaluations have come under increasing criticism this year as the plans have started rolling out in classrooms. Just how difficult the reforms have been was clear at Thursday night's debate on education policy at Towson University, where education leaders bluntly acknowledged some of the implementation issues, but also said they stand behind the Common Core standards. The panel discussion was held by the Maryland Public Policy Institute and included education experts representing both sides of the political spectrum.

As a parent of Baltimore City Public School students, I take great offense to the commentary, "City principals call for funding forums" (May 22), written by five BCPS principals. I find it offensive that, while they do highlight the numerous and substantial costs charters must pay from their budgets that traditional schools do not, they ignore a more important element which is that parents and students deserve choice - choice in curriculum, school facilities and program models. My older daughter graduated from Baltimore City College in the International Baccalaureate program.

Erica Green 's recent article, "Charters emerge as threat to Catholic schools" (March 16), describes the competition between Catholic and charter schools for students. This competition certainly exists. But it is not the entirety of the relationship, at least not in one section of the city. In Northeast Baltimore, not too far south of where the vacant St. Anthony's school building mentioned in the article sits, another Catholic school is one of three outstanding schools — one parochial, one traditional neighborhood public and one public charter school — participating in partnership with a local community development organization to enhance educational opportunities for all families in the neighborhood.

Ricarda Easton and Will McKenna have done an excellent job of summarizing the many issues that need to be addressed by the Baltimore's new CEO of schools regarding charter schools ( "Holding back the city's charter schools," May 7). Incoming Superintendent Gregory Thornton would be well advised also to examine a new report from the University of Arkansas that compares funding of charter schools to traditional schools (" which discusses the disparity between funding in almost every state.

Ten years ago, Baltimore students were able for the first time to enroll in public charter schools, which brought a fresh approach to education in the city. Publicly funded and part of the Baltimore City Public Schools, charter schools are run by independent operators who develop an academic approach and governance model to engage families in public education in new ways. These schools are held accountable for driving student achievement and for being well managed. Today, Baltimore is fortunate to have 31 charters across the city, many of which are integral parts of the education landscape.